'Dost dost na raha': Cong takes swipe at PM Modi over Trump's recent actions

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Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh (File image)

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over US President Donald Trump's recent remarks and actions with the iconic Mukesh song "Dost dost na raha" from the 1964 film "Sangam" by Raj Kapoor.

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, also asked what happened to "Namaste Trump", "Howdy Modi" and "Huglomacy".

"Look at what President Trump has done so far since mid-May 2025 -- he has claimed 45 times in four different countries, including at the UN, that he brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan that led to the abrupt halt to Operation Sindoor," Ramesh said on X.

Trump has hosted Pakistan's Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir to an "unprecedented" lunch at the White House -- "the same man whose inflammatory and communally-vicious statements provided the backdrop to the terror attack at Pahalgam", the Congress leader said.

"He (Trump) has spoken of intensifying the US-Pakistan economic partnership. He has, according to some informed reports, given green signal to the strategic mutual defence agreement between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan," Ramesh said.

"He has imposed punitive tariffs on India's exports to the US and also shaken the H1B visa regime to the core. He has singled out India for its long-standing economic relationship with Russia and penalised it," the Congress general secretary said.

Today, according to reports, Trump is scheduled to meet Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif along with the field marshal (Munir) at the White House, Ramesh claimed.

"Namaste Trump ka kya huwa? Howdy Modi ka kya huwa? Huglomacy ka kya huwa? Dost dost na raha...," Ramesh said.

In a scathing attack on the government, the Congress on Wednesday claimed that it has caused the "collapse" of India's foreign policy while Prime Minister Modi's "huglomacy" has backfired, leaving the country "diplomatically isolated" and unable to secure its national interests.

The assertion came in a political resolution passed by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting here that was chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by former party chief Rahul Gandhi, treasurer Ajay Maken, general secretaries K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and Sachin Pilot, and Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Kumar, among others.

In the resolution, the CWC said it is profoundly worried by the "collapse" of India's foreign policy.

"Successive governments since Independence have closely guarded our country's strategic autonomy, which is now being squandered as the government mindlessly oscillates between appeasing the US and tilting towards China," the resolution said.

US President Trump continues to claim that he used trade with the US as a bargaining chip to coerce India into abruptly, halting Operation Sindoor in May 2025, a claim that the Modi government has refused to address with honesty, the Congress alleged.

"Despite the bargain, however, Trump announced steep tariffs on Indian exports to the US -- wreaking havoc on key industries that employ millions of our workers," the CWC resolution said.

"The government allowed the humiliation of hundreds of Indians as they were handcuffed, put on military aircraft and deported back to India by the USA. Shortly after, President Trump urged American technology companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple to stop hiring Indians," it claimed.

"And now, lakhs of Indian citizens find their future in the US at risk because of the Trump administration's hostile changes to the H1B visa policy," the CWC said.

The government's attempt to address this crisis with its recent reactionary tilt towards Beijing is a "cure worse than the disease", the resolution said.

Kharge also took a swipe at Modi and said the very friends whom he boasts about as "my friends" are today putting India in "numerous troubles".

His remarks came after Trump, in his address to the United Nations General Assembly, said China and India remain the "primary funders" of the Ukraine war by continuing to purchase Russian oil.

The Trump administration has imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on New Delhi as a penalty for its purchase of Russian oil, taking the total levies imposed on India by the US to 50 per cent, among the highest in the world.

India has called the tariffs "unjustified" and "unreasonable". It said that, like any major economy, it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.

Also, the Trump administration last week announced a one-time USD 1,00,000 fee on H-1B visas.

tariffs H-1B visa H-1B BJP Foreign policy Jairam Ramesh Narendra Modi Congress